/04-16-12%20WEB

Vol. CXXXVI—No. 57

Monday, April 16, 2012

columbiaspectator.com

McKinsey called for structural changes

CCSC proposes new alcohol use policy

Confidential summary sheds light on Moody-Adams’ resignation

BY RAKHI AGRAWAL Spectator Staff Writer The Columbia College Student Council passed a resolution unanimously for the first time this year on Sunday night, proposing that the University allow student groups to store excess alcohol after events.

Under current policy, any leftover alcohol at a student event, whether opened or unopened, must be poured down the drain afterward. CCSC’s resolution, which can be read in full on Spectator’s website, outlines a process by which groups would be able to store and exchange unused alcohol. The Engineering Student Council is expected to vote on the resolution, with some minor revisions, at its meeting tonight.

CCSC class of 2013 representative Alex Jasiulek initiated discussions about a new alcohol management policy after the Casino Night event earlier this semester, when he was “upset to see hundreds of dollars of alcohol thrown out,” he said. Steve Castellano, CC ’13—who has spearheaded the policy initiative with Jasiulek— said that several campus groups have ordered too much alcohol for events and been forced to dispose of it, which Jasiulek said is an “environmental hazard, and depressing for everyone involved.”

The groups that hold events involving alcohol most frequently are the Columbia Queer Alliance, which regularly hosts First Friday events, and the senior class councils, which regularly host Lerner Pub events for seniors. CQA and the senior class councils already have special policies

SEE ALCOHOL, page 3

BY SAMMY ROTH Spectator Senior Staff Writer

HENRY WILLSON / SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

BRANCHING OUT

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The cherry trees in Sakura Park were a gift from Japan 100 years ago.

Sakura Park event honors Japanese ties

BY CASEY TOLAN Spectator Senior Staff Writer For many locals, the Sakura Park cherry trees in northwest Morningside Heights are nothing more than a beautiful reminder that spring has arrived. But the trees have a long, symbolic history—one that was celebrated Saturday in a ceremony commemorating the 100th anniversary of their planting.

In 1912, Japan gave New York City a gift of 2,000 cherry trees, or “sakura” in Japanese. Thirteen were planted in Claremont

Park—which was renamed Sakura Park—at 122nd Street and Claremont Avenue, and the rest went to Riverside Park and other spots throughout the city.

“These trees have a meaning much deeper than the coming of spring,” said Japanese ambassador Shigeyuki Hiroki, who attended the ceremony. Hiroki called the cherry trees a “living testament of the friendship our two countries share.”

“Our affection for the United States is as deep-rooted as the roots of these trees in American soil,” he said.

8 professors win Guggenheim Fellowships

BY JEREMY BUDD Spectator Senior Staff Writer Columbia University received more Guggenheim Fellowships than any other institution this year, with eight professors earning grants that will allow them to take up to a year off for research.

Literature Humanities chair Christia Mercer and Contemporary Civilization chair Matthew Jones were among the professors to win the prestigious fellowships.

Both will be replaced by interim chairs next year.

Almost 3,000 academics, artists, and scientists from the U.S. and Canada applied for the fellowships this year, and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced 181 winners on Friday. The other Columbia winners were School of the Arts professors Timothy Donnelly and Benjamin Taylor, Mailman School of Public Health professor Jennifer Hirsch, music professors Alex Mincek and Kate Soper, and Journalism School professor Stephen Hall.

“It’s funny—I had already asked for a leave before I knew how I was going to afford it,” Mercer said. “It’s very exciting for me.”

The size of the grants varies based on each winner’s project. Mercer will use her grant to research and write a book, to be titled “Platonisms in Early Modern Thought,”

and to oversee the writing of a new book series, “Oxford Philosophical Concepts,” for which she will travel to the American Academy in Rome next spring.

Mercer will spend the fall semester at the National Humanities Center just south of Durham, N.C. She said that she enjoys teaching and chairing Lit Hum, but that those roles consume a lot of time that could be devoted to research.

“Certainly the financial assistances are tremendous and will be life-altering for me.”

—Timothy Donnelly, School of the Arts professor

“It’s very exciting to do all those things, but it’s difficult to get research done,” she said.

“It’s nice to get an award like that, but what I’m most looking forward to is to have a year off to do my research and be involved with various projects.”

Mercer said that classics professor Gareth Williams will serve as interim Lit Hum chair in her absence. Williams previously chaired the course in 2005-06 and from 2007-10.

Jones said that classics professor James Zetzel, who chaired CC from 1999-2002, will be the interim CC chair. Jones— who has researched and taught classes about the history of science—will use his fellowship to study the history of data mining, a technique for summarizing large sets of data via computer software.

“For the first time in my career, I’m going to be writing a history of people who aren’t dead,” he said. “This is a pretty substantial shift in my own interests, and these grants are going to get me the space really to undertake some new training.”

Jones said he is looking forward to building a foundation in these technical disciplines and interviewing some of the “key practitioners” of data mining.

“These grants want you to pursue a sort of new track in your research, so this will enable me to do that over the next few years,” he said. “I’m looking forward to being able to learn these technical disciplines at the foundational levels and hopefully interview many of the key practitioners.”

Jones added that he will remain involved next year in the Committee on the Core and in an effort to endow the Core Curriculum.

Hirsch will use her fellowship to pursue research on the “connections between married women’s HIV risk in rural SEE GUGGENHEIM, page 6

Hiroki also thanked guests at the ceremony—which was part of this weekend’s Cherry Blossom Festival—for the “outpouring of support” for Japan after the tsunami last spring.

“People in Japan knew they were not alone in their struggle,” he said.

In a re-enactment of the original gift, Hiroki presented six cherry tree saplings to the city. Just as 13 American women dressed in kimonos—a traditional Japanese garment—for SEE SAKURA, page 6

McKinsey & Company recommended last year that decisionmaking for Columbia College and several other schools be further integrated into the central Arts and Sciences administration, according to a summary of McKinsey’s report obtained by Spectator and verified by a professor familiar with it.

The consulting firm also suggested scaling back financial aid for some students and increasing enrollment in several revenuegenerating degree programs, according to the summary. The professor familiar with the document stressed that McKinsey was only outlining possible strategies that Columbia could follow, and that the University is under no obligation to follow any of them.

Administrators have chosen not to implement most of the proposals outlined in the 13-page summary, although some of the recommendations—including changes to financial aid policy—are at least being considered.

But the document—which is dated July 27, 2011, and can be read in full on Spectator’s website— sheds light on why philosophy professor Michele Moody-Adams resigned as Columbia College dean last year. The new administrative structures proposed in the summary would decrease the power of individuals schools’ deans, giving more authority to central A&S administrators on issues like budgeting, admissions, and financial aid.

In an Aug. 20 email to alumni announcing her resignation, Moody-Adams wrote that just days before, it was made clear to her that “structural transformations intended to fundamentally alter decision-making in and for the College cannot be stopped.”

These changes to the A&S administrative structure, she wrote,

would “have the effect of diminishing and in some important instances eliminating the authority of the Dean of the College over crucial policy, fund-raising and budgetary matters” and would ultimately “compromise the College’s academic quality and financial health.”

It is unclear if the document obtained by Spectator summarizes a final version or a preliminary version of McKinsey’s report. Executive Vice President for Arts and Sciences Nicholas Dirks declined to comment on the summary.

Moody-Adams, reached by phone Friday evening, also declined to comment on the summary. increasing revenue McKinsey’s report was commissioned in part to help administrators eliminate a budget deficit that has plagued A&S for the last few years. The summary states that several of McKinsey’s proposals are meant to “generate resources for higher priority needs, not to ‘close’ a budget imbalance.”

McKinsey recommended that financial aid be decreased for families with “higher income levels” in order to “preserve aid levels for students from lower income families,” and that Columbia consider reintroducing loans.

Administrators have been reconsidering Columbia’s no-loan policy since last semester.

Additionally, McKinsey advised Columbia to increase enrollment in master’s programs, which generate revenue because there is little financial aid for master’s students. Specifically, the summary says that administrators should “focus enrollment increases on six high-demand programs with marginal additions in smaller programs ... which will fund additional SEE MCKINSEY, page 2

Barnard cuts costs by reducing P.E. requirement

BY EMMA GOSS Spectator Staff Writer Barnard is cutting its physical education requirement in half in order to save the college money.

Acting Provost Paul Hertz told Spectator in an email that Barnard’s Committee on Instruction, which is composed of students, faculty, and staff, “concluded that a one semester physical education requirement adequately serves the needs of students.” Hertz and Dean Avis Hinkson announced the P.E. change in a statement Friday, telling Barnard students that it is “largely motivated by the financial constraints under which the college is currently operating.”

“The change offers cost savings which will allow for funding of other student and faculty resources,” Hertz said in his email

to Spectator.

Currently, Barnard students are required to complete one semester of P.E. in their first year and a second semester of P.E. by the end of their junior year. Students will need to complete the new one-semester requirement in their first year.

According to Hertz and Hinkson, the Barnard faculty approved the change on April 2.

“This wasn’t a decision made lightly,” COI member Julianna Coppage, BC ’12, said. “We devoted a number of meetings to this pretty much since January ... Everybody took it very seriously.”

Student Government Association Vice President Rachel Ferrari, BC ’13 and a COI member, said she was glad that the administration got student and faculty input before making a decision.

“President [Debora] Spar and Chief Operating Officer Greg Brown came directly to the COI to have faculty and students contribute to the decisions that were being made that were financial, in terms of our representing the academic experience,” Ferrari said.

Ferrari explained that Barnard’s relatively small endowment, the cost of building the Diana Center, and the college’s preparation for a major campus renovation were factors that necessitated immediate budget cuts.

In an email to the student body, SGA described the change as “not ideal,” although SGA academic affairs representative Malvina Kefalas, BC ’14, said in an interview that of all the cost-cutting moves Barnard could make, this is SEE BARNARD, page 2

FILE PHOTO

WORKING OUT

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Students use exercise equipment in Barnard College’s Levien Gymnasium.

OPINION, PAGE 4

SPORTS, BACK PAGE

EVENTS

WEATHER

Dollars and sense

Lions drop three of four in Ithaca

Counterterrorism vs. civil liberties

Today

Columbia baseball’s hopes for a Lou Gehrig title took a severe hit this weekend as the Light Blue managed just one win versus division-leader Cornell.

“The Turkish Passport”

Columbians need to tackle financial illiteracy.

Numerical is beautiful Andrea Viejo advocates more math in the Core.

Columbia scholars discuss the tension between freedom of speech and security concerns.

1512 International Affairs Building, 12 p.m.

In honor of Holocaust Commemoration Week, several groups are hosting a screening of this documentary about Turkish diplomats helping war victims.

Altschul Auditorium, 417 International Affairs Building, 6:30 p.m.

85°/ 61°

Tomorrow

79°/ 50°

PAGE 2

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REORGANIZING THE ARTS AND SCIENCES DIVISION

The summary of the McKinsey report lays out three possible administrative structures for A&S. All involve the integration of decision-making for A&S schools into the central A&S administration.

Adds an “operating committee”—made up of Executype one tive Vice President for Arts and Sciences Nicholas Dirks and school deans, among others—which would be responsible for decision-making on issues including financial aid and admissions.

Also adds a chief of staff for Dirks.

Adds A&S-wide “functional heads”—including a chief information officer and a chief financial officer—and divisional deans, as well as a chief of staff for Dirks.

type two

Referred to as “Strong centralization within Central University,” and involves the most sweeping changes. This structure would establish “direct Central University oversight and alignment on A&S matters” by integrating the A&S administration into the central University administration.

type three

4

INCREASING MASTER’S PROGRAM ENROLLMENT

McKinsey advised Columbia to increase enrollment in master’s programs, which offer minimal financial aid. Specifically, the summary says that administrators should “Focus enrollment increases on six high-demand programs with marginal additions in smaller programs … which will fund additional investments in required faculty and administration.”

The summary also recommends the introduction of two new master’s programs—economics and interdisciplinary individual study—to “match offerings with peer universities.” A proposal for an interdisciplinary master’s program is currently making its way through the University Senate.

2

NEWS

IMPROVING ADMINISTRATIVE EFFICIENCY/EFFECTIVENESS

McKinsey recommended that Columbia “Improve coordination and service delivery for departments, institutes, and schools through specialization and pooling of transactional activities.”

McKinsey also suggested that Columbia “Inform potential Arts and Sciences experiment through peer comparison.”

APRIL 16, 2012

3

INCREASING CONTINUING EDUCATION ENROLLMENT

The summary discusses enrollment in Continuing Education, which offers minimal financial aid, recommending that the University “identify incremental opportunities to increase offerings primarily through expansion of hybrid online programs.”

THE MCKINSEY REPORT: A BREAKDOWN 5

REEVALUATING FINANCIAL AID POLICIES

McKinsey recommended that financial aid be decreased for families with “higher income levels” in order to “preserve aid levels for students from lower income families,” and that Columbia consider reintroducing loans. Administrators have been reconsidering Columbia’s no-loan policy since last semester.

6

INCREASING ALUMNI GIVING

McKinsey suggested that Columbia “Improve faculty coordination and communication with alumni relations and development office to drive alumni relationship building and overall fundraising.”

GRAPHIC BY YUMA SHINOHARA

McKinsey recommended scaling back financial aid, increasing enrollment in money-making programs MCKINSEY from front page investments in required faculty and administration.”

The summary also recommends the introduction of two new master’s programs—economics and interdisciplinary individual study—to “match offerings with peer universities.” Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dean Carlos Alonso said in a recent interview that a proposal for an interdisciplinary master’s program was moving through the University Senate.

According to statistics from Columbia’s Office of Planning and Institutional Research, fulltime enrollment in GSAS master’s programs increased from 720 students in 2008 to 941 students in 2011. Alonso emphasized that no pressure is being placed on departments to expand their master’s programs, saying that any growth has been “natural.”

Provost John Coatsworth—who

declined to comment on the summary, given the report’s confidentiality—said that A&S as a whole “has been working hard over the last few years, and continues to work hard, to expand its master’s programs.”

These programs, he said, “have been able to attract excellent faculty and maintain high standards,” and have also “been able to generate some additional revenue for the Arts and Sciences, and therefore” for Columbia College.

The summary also discusses enrollment in the School of Continuing Education—which offers minimal financial aid—recommending that the University “identify incremental opportunities to increase offerings primarily through expansion of hybrid online programs.” According to OPIR statistics, full-time enrollments in Continuing Education increased from 821 students in 2008 to 1,110 students in 2011.

But some of McKinsey’s

revenue-generating recommendations might no longer be necessary, as Coatsworth told faculty in a December email that the A&S budget deficit has been “corrected.”

“Budget projections for the next ten years show no deficits and growing surpluses after FY [fiscal year] 15,” Coatsworth wrote.

Coatsworth told Spectator on Thursday that the A&S budget deficit was fixed largely by funding provided by the University’s central administration. structural changes Most of the McKinsey report summary focuses on options for restructuring the A&S central administration to make it more efficient and effective. A&S is made up of six schools—Columbia College, GSAS, Continuing Education, the School of General Studies, the School of the Arts, and the School of International and Public Affairs—as well as 29 departments and 32 institutes,

SIPA prof ends World Bank president campaign

BY YASMIN GAGNE Spectator Senior Staff Writer School of International and Public Affairs professor José Antonio Ocampo withdrew from the race to head the World Bank on Friday, calling the selection process a “political exercise.”

Brazil nominated Ocampo, a former Colombian finance minister, on behalf of several developing nations.

“We had the interviews Monday to Wednesday of this week, and I think the result of that benefited me,” Ocampo told Spectator. “I was the best organized and had the most ideas about where to take the bank.”

Ocampo said that he pulled out of the race after deciding that the selection process would not be merit-based. The United States has a great deal of influence in the selection process, and the U.S.-nominated candidate, Dartmouth College President Jim Yong Kim, is likely to be announced as the World Bank’s next president today.

“After interviews, it is quite clear that the U.S. started to move all their support to get their candidate elected,” Ocampo said.

“We have gone back to the problems of the past and the evaluations were irrelevant.”

Economics professor Jagdish Bhagwati said in an email that Ocampo should not have joined the race in the first place.

“Mr. Ocampo’s entry into the World Bank Presidential sweepstakes was most unfortunate,” Bhagwati said. “It undermined the immensely stronger candidacy of the ‘dream candidate,’ the brilliant Ngozi OkonjoIweala, by suggesting that she was ‘Africa’s’ candidate and Ocampo was ‘Latin America’s’ candidate, thus undermining the important principle that every candidate was to be judged on her own merits and also the notion that the developing countries at least should all unite from the beginning around Dr. Okonjo-Iweala.”

Over the weekend, Ocampo urged Okonjo-Iweala—who has

the backing of the World Bank’s African members—to withdraw her candidacy as well, in order to protest what he considered an unfair selection process.

Now, though, Ocampo is calling for developing nations to back Okonjo-Iweala, who is Kim’s only remaining rival.

Bhagwati said that Ocampo’s decision to withdraw his candidacy is symptomatic of a larger problem among Columbia faculty members, citing Earth Institute Director’s Jeffrey Sachs’ brief foray into the race for World Bank president.

“The belated withdrawal of Mr. Ocampo from the race, coming on the heels of the withdrawal of Professor Jeffrey Sachs from his self-generated candidacy which glossed over his policy failures such as shock therapy, unfortunately raises serious questions about Columbia faculty’s probity in matters of global governance and globalization,” Bhagwati said in an email. yasmin.gagne @columbiaspectator.com

Students ambivalent about requirement change BARNARD from front page “the one that would have the least impact on the college’s mission.”

Coppage said that in COI meetings, “people came to the realization that reducing the P.E. requirement does not necessarily reduce the emphasis on wellness at the college.” SGA said in its email that it is “committed to working to increase awareness of Barnard’s student wellness options to ensure that students can take advantage of these resources for their personal health,” and Hinkson and Hertz encouraged students to take advantage of the Well-Woman and FITbear programs.

Most students reacted to the announcement with ambivalence, saying that cutting the P.E. requirement won’t have much of an effect.

Abigail Smith, BC ’13, called the change “a little irrelevant.”

“People who already enjoy the requirement will exercise regardless of whether it’s mandatory,”

Smith said. “I’m glad the requirement exists, because it encourages people to know where the gym is and use Barnard’s wellness resources.”

“As long as it doesn’t prevent anyone from taking P.E. classes if they want to, the change doesn’t seem to be that significant,” Mia Cooper, BC ’14, said.

Others said that the P.E. requirement should not exist at all.

“The point of the requirement is to make people active,” Maddie Richer, BC ’14, said. “I think we’re old enough to make the decision to exercise for ourselves.”

But Dorcas Yip, BC ’15, said she is “really sad” that the requirement is being changed solely for financial reasons. Yip plans to continue taking P.E. classes if they fit in her schedule.

“I still really want to take a dance class here,” she said.

Current students who have not completed a second semester of P.E. will not be required to do

so. Ajla Karajko, BC ’14, said that after proactively fulfilling her P.E. requirement as a sophomore, it frustrates her that other students who haven’t fulfilled it yet are now off the hook.

“I’m mad because I had to do it for two semesters, and it’s unfair that I only know now that my second semester wasn’t required,” she said. “They should just start the new policy for the incoming class.”

Barnard has required two semesters of P.E. since 1984, but the college has reduced the requirement several times throughout its history. From 1972-1984, the requirement was four semesters, and prior to that, it was six semesters.

“The saddest thing about a college is that it’s a business. It’s not just a glorious utopia,” Ferrari said. “And I’m proud that our administration is willing to examine where we’re putting our money and where else it could be put.” emma.goss @columbiaspectator.com

centers, and programs.

The summary lays out three potential administrative structures, as first reported Thursday in The Eye, Spectator’s weekly magazine. All three structures involve the integration of decision-making for A&S schools into the central A&S administration, although none of these structures has been implemented.

The first structure, “Type 1,” hews closely to the existing structure but adds an “operating committee”—made up of Dirks and school deans, among others— which would be responsible for decision-making on issues including financial aid and admissions. It also adds a chief of staff for Dirks.

The second structure, “Type 2,” adds A&S-wide “functional heads”—including a chief information officer, a chief financial officer, and an enrollment manager—as well as divisional deans and a chief of staff. Columbia

had already begun implementing a divisional dean structure before McKinsey recommended it, and there are currently divisional deans of humanities, sciences, and social sciences.

An advantage of the “Type 2” structure, the summary reads, is that it “enables strong coordination of support functions and related decision making across A&S.” The “Type 3” structure, referred to as “Strong centralization within Central University,” involves the most sweeping changes.

This structure would establish “direct Central University oversight and alignment on A&S matters” by integrating the A&S administration into the central University administration.

All three proposed structures limit the responsibilities of individual schools’ deans. The summary explains that deans would establish policies concerning the “care and feeding” of students, make decisions about

the funding and supporting of student activities, and oversee global programs.

Rather than implement any of these three structures, though, administrators have chosen to move in a different direction.

As The Eye reported on Thursday, Dirks introduced a set of structural changes at a faculty meeting two weeks ago. One of those changes is the establishment of an A&S executive committee composed of himself, Alonso, and Columbia College Interim Dean James Valentini.

“The hope is that ... this new structure will raise the status and decision-making authority of the dean of the college in ways that will be productive both for the Arts and Sciences as a whole and for the college,” Coatsworth told The Eye. Margaret Mattes contributed reporting. sammy.roth @columbiaspectator.com

APRIL 16, 2012

NEWS

Court rules new State Senate lines constitutional

General Studies elects Wisdom council president

BY CASEY TOLAN Spectator Senior Staff Writer

BY MADINA TOURE Spectator Senior Staff Writer

A State Supreme Court justice ruled Friday that new district lines crafted by Republicans in the State Senate are constitutional, although he called some of the Republicans’ tactics “disturbing.”

In the case of Cohen v. Cuomo, State Democratic Committee member Daniel Marks Cohen had argued that the Republican majority’s decision to add a 63rd seat to the body was unconstitutional. This new seat would likely be situated upstate, and its addition is widely seen as an attempt by Republicans to solidify their majority in the narrowly divided chamber.

The case was argued on Friday, and Justice Richard Braun released a decision later that day. Braun wrote in his decision that while Republicans’ use of several different methods this year to determine population growth was “disturbing,” the plaintiffs had failed to meet their burden of proof.

“Petitioners have not sustained their heavy burden of demonstrating beyond a reasonable doubt that the Legislature has acted unconstitutionally,” he wrote.

Cohen, an Upper West Side

Jennifer Wisdom was elected General Studies Student Council president last week, winning a three-candidate race with 51 percent of the 404 votes cast.

Wisdom is currently GSSC’s vice president of communications. Scott Bacon, who is currently GSSC’s vice president of student events, came in second with 35 percent of the vote, while newcomer Eugene Dinescu garnered 9 percent of the vote.

Wisdom said she plans to work with Bacon and Dinescu next year. She wants to pursue Bacon’s idea of putting up a GSSC accountability board in the General Studies Student Lounge—which would outline the council’s budget and progress on various issues—as well as Dinescu’s idea of re-formatting the Weekly Owl, an email that the vice president of communications sends to the student body.

“I know my two opponents had fantastic campaigns,” she said. “I know I put a lot of work into my campaign, but I know they did too.”

Wisdom said she would focus on collaboration, accessibility, and transparency, partly by instituting a monthly presidential address. She would also like GSSC to work more frequently with the GS Dean of Students and with the other undergraduate student councils.

HENRY WILLSON / SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

LAWSUIT | State Democratic Committee member Daniel Marks Cohen is the lead plaintiff in a suit challenging State Senate lines. resident and the lead plaintiff, said that his side would appeal the ruling to the state’s Court of Appeals.

“Obviously, I disagree with Judge Braun, and hopefully the Court of Appeals will overrule him, but we always knew this was going before the Court of Appeals regardless,” Cohen said.

“So the fact that the judge has not ruled in our favor is a disappointment, but we proceed on nonetheless.”

“There’s not a shred of doubt in my mind we’re going forward,” he added.

Cohen said he was surprised

by how quickly Braun reached a decision—reached by phone on Friday evening, he had not yet heard about the ruling.

“It was very speedy, and I’m very grateful because it gives us proper time to go before the Court of Appeals,” he said. “If we win the appeal, we’ll have sufficient time to draw the new lines.”

State Senate candidates can begin circulating petitions for the fall primary starting June 5, which means that a decision on the district boundaries needs to be made before then. casey.tolan @columbiaspectator.com

PAGE 3

Fifteen GSSC positions will need to be filled in the fall, but Dinescu said that he’s not sure that he wants to pursue a position on the council.

“I didn’t necessarily get the outcome that I would have liked, obviously, during the election, but that’s not really what swayed me away from doing it again,” he said. “It’s other factors. I learned a lot from the experience and I learned that my position is not best as a politician.”

Nikki Morgan, who is currently GSSC’s chief policy representative, was elected vice president of policy, taking home 50 percent of the vote. Her opponent, Alexandra Leighton, won 26 percent of the vote.

Morgan said she is interested in improving communication between the student body and the administration, and that she wants to improve the reputation of GS within Columbia.

“I want alumni to look back and really, really appreciate the time that they had at GS, and I think that the best way to do that is to go to the root of the problem and make GS more relevant,” she said.

As she came in second in the policy vice president race, Leighton was named chief policy representative. She said she is interested in raising money for students who want to study abroad but cannot afford it, as well as creating a “better student response” to University

Writing.

“They [instructors] have been students, and they are students, and they don’t want to make undergraduate students unhappy,” Leighton said.

In the University Senate race, Justin Carter won with 22 percent of the vote, while Adam Gentle, Phineas Lunger, Amna Pervez, and Nathalie Niño earned 19 percent, 16 percent, 14 percent, and 12 percent, respectively.

Carter said that his main priorities are ensuring continuity with the current University Senator, Jose Robledo, and meeting with senators from the other undergraduate schools to discuss their goals.

Although Lunger is looking at several open positions on GSSC, he said that he is particularly interested in becoming the alumni affairs representative.

“Connecting students with alumni is a great tool for GS students to foster connections now, which will potentially help them with their job search when they graduate from GS,” he said.

Pervez said she hopes to continue working as a legislative assistant to the GS University Senator, and to stay a member of GSSC’s policy committee.

“My main job would be to support the senator in representing the interests of General Studies students,” she said. madina.toure @columbiaspectator.com

DOUGLAS KESSEL / SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

EVENTS

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University Event Management Executive Director Joe Ricciutti talks to CCSC members.

CCSC suggests method for alcohol exchange ALCOHOL from front page that allow them to store unused alcohol for future events.

“Alcohol is definitely being wasted on campus, and we want to find a way to prevent such a blatant waste,” said Castellano, who was elected earlier this month as CCSC’s next academic affairs representative.

CCSC’s resolution included two main proposals—that the University create an alcohol closet in which groups can store excess alcohol after events, and that the Office of Student Development and Activities track alcohol use at student events. Ideally, Castellano said, the alcohol manager at each event would keep track of how much alcohol is ordered and how many people are drinking, thus helping SDA to better advise student groups about ordering alcohol for events.

Based on conversations with representatives of the office, SDA advisors “seem to be in favor of this model and guideline,” Castellano said.

Jasiulek started talking to administrators about an alcohol storage policy in March, meeting with representatives from University Event Management and other offices.

“Their biggest thing was this wasn’t that old of a policy, and they didn’t really see it as a huge problem,” Jasiulek said.

But “once the amount of waste

was explained,” he said, administrators started to see the need for a policy change.

“One thing that people were concerned about was people potentially abusing it and selling it to other groups for a profit ... I don’t think that would be legitimate, though,” Jasiulek said.

CCSC’s resolution proposes that unused alcohol be stored in an alcohol closet, which would perhaps be incorporated in planned renovations to the Student Government Office.

Other student groups would then be permitted to take drinks from the alcohol closet for their own events, provided that at least 50 percent of the alcohol at those events is purchased with those groups’ own funds.

If ESC passes the policy tonight, Castellano said, the next step will be for student leaders to talk to representatives of UEM. Jasiulek is hopeful that policy’s passage might lead to other alcohol rules being changed, including rules governing where you can stand when drinking and what additional purchases groups must make if they want to serve alcohol at events.

“Fewer restrictions are better, especially in an already stressful environment,” Jasiulek said.

Incoming CCSC Vice President of Campus Life Yanyi Luo, CC ’13, said that CCSC’s resolution “is just going to

make the policy of having alcohol at events easier.”

“I just turned 21, so I haven’t really been drinking at campus events, but I think it’s very important that we’re able to have alcohol at our campus events and that we’re treated as adults,” Luo said.

Earlier this month, Columbia sent six students and Alice! Health Promotion Director Michael McNeil to an annual Ivy League alcohol policy summit at Dartmouth College. One of those students, CC Class of 2015 President Jared Odessky, said that the conference featured discussion about “how student groups can usually only offer dry events” due to restrictions associated with alcohol use.

“We spent time discussing alternative programming in order for students to make better decisions about their alcohol use,” Odessky, who is CCSC’s incoming vice president of communications, said.

“We think that seeing this initiative come from student groups is a great thing, as it affects them,” he added. “We’d rather have students [drink] in a social environment on campus that builds community, rather than pregaming in their rooms or going bar-hopping.”

Ben Gittelson contributed reporting. rakhi.agrawal @columbiaspectator.com

EDITORIAL & OPINION

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An illiterate nation

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Although Columbia College students can discuss the nuances of Rousseau and Hume, and remark upon the poetry of Homer, many cannot pass a basic financial literacy test.

Such a test could include questions regarding risk diversification, credit scores, basic accounting, and the rights and responsibilities of consumers and as people who will soon be in the post-grad world. As Columbia students, we are in the top echelon of educated people our age. Financial illiteracy is much harder to escape from for those who are underprivileged or undereducated. In 2008, high school seniors across the country correctly answered, on average, only 48.3 percent of the questions on a national financial literacy test administered by the U.S. Treasury Department. The statistics worsen.

The total number of people declaring bankruptcy between the ages of 18-24 has increased by 96 percent in 10 years, according to the CARE Program. In 2010, more individuals filed for bankruptcy than graduated from college. In fact, the majority of Americans are financially illiterate.

What are the consequences? Shockingly enough, recent issues such as the economic crisis, the related collapse of the subprime lending market and push for rising financial regulations, have not promoted an upheaval of our country’s financial literacy education system. The President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy in its 2008 Annual Report reaffirmed the “undeniable” factor of financial illiteracy in the economic crisis. Countless Americans undertook home agreements they did not comprehend, and subsequently, could not afford. Nuanced financial instruments in our modern and complex financial system, even basic balloon “teaser” interest rates on mortgages, are especially challenging to understand for the undereducated and financially illiterate majority. While there is a lot of talk about regulating the supply-side, and for good reason, it begs the question of how many Occupy Wall Street-ers can pass such a literacy test. By raising consumer awareness, we can reduce manipulation in a market made opaque by ignorance. When the majority of this country does not understand the elegant nature of compound interest or managing a credit card, some experts such as Annamaria Lusardi, a professor at Dartmouth and a national proponent of financial literacy, propose that one should first be licensed to acquire a mortgage.

The President’s Advisory Council’s Annual Report made several recommendations in 2008, including mandating financial education in grades K-12 and creating tax incentives for employee financial education. Yet what has been accomplished? Only 13 states require students to take a personal finance course to graduate, according to the Council for Economic Education. Financial literacy is low and stagnating. Parents are consistently ranked as the most influential source of financial literacy education, but only around 34 percent of parents have taught their children how to balance a checkbook and less than that have illuminated the world of credit card interest fees, according to Charles Schwab’s 2008 “Parents & Money.” Parents actually report feeling more comfortable giving their teenager the infamous “sex talk” than advice about investing.

So now that I have sufficiently disheartened you with a seemingly intractable situation, I would like to offer a simple solution. In order to advance financial literacy and responsibility as a topic of national import, we should start on the campus level. For example, Moneythink, which has a chapter at Columbia, is a national student-run nonprofit organization with chapters across the country and the mandate to teach financial literacy and entrepreneurship to local underprivileged high school students. Moneythink offers 10week courses that center on honing fundamental life skills like leadership, money management, and goal-setting. The instructors are trained undergraduate college students who act as mentors, not teachers. Its teachers even transcend financial matters and act as personal role models for their students, giving them advice about college and helping edit application essays. Last March, it won the White House Campus Champions of Change Challenge, finishing in the top five out of 1400 applicants, and was featured on MTV a few weeks ago. Achievements like these show that the best thing we can do today as students to improve upon our economic future is to push for national change and efficacy, and mobilize on the collegiate level in a similar way. Even teaching less advantaged students basic organizational and budgeting habits and helping them cultivate responsibility early will be a catalyst for change. Imagine a nation where thousands of college students serve as mentors for underprivileged local high school students. We can aspire further to a country where schools have resources and financial support to train teachers, less fragmented state-based legislation and greater consensus on curricula. As the Stoic philosopher Epictetus said, “Only the educated are free.” It is impossible to participate and flourish in contemporary society without financial literacy. We must do what we can to lessen the yoke of an illiteracy that is debilitating for our society and our future.

The author is a Columbia College sophomore majoring in biological sciences. She is the president and founder of Moneythink’s Columbia chapter.

MONDAY 15, 2012

The poetry of mathematics

I

t has been nearly a year since I last worked with mathematics—with true math, the type that requires an advanced calculator and goes beyond the Frontiers of Science final exam. It’s been quite a while since I have gotten lost ANDREA in solving a math problem, to the point that I am afraid I will forget to speak the VIEJO mathematical language, that I will lose From Outits logic, its brilliance, its poetry.

Before coming to Columbia, I deside In cided to focus my academic career in the humanities, and to avoid any sort of math after high school. I believed I was right-brained, that I believed in words, and that quantitative reasoning was dull. Growing up, I hated math despite being in an advanced program for it, because it was always right or wrong, black or white. I felt as if there was no room for exploration, no room for expressing who I was. Everyone’s answers were all expected to be the same, and there was no personality whatsoever in such quantitative topics. I hated the language of mathematics so much that waiting to begin college made me anxious—I couldn’t wait to go somewhere where I could avoid math completely.

The reason I came to Columbia was that it emphasized everything non-math related. I loved the Core Curriculum: I loved the concept of being part of a group of students who believed in the importance of reading the foundational works of literature, the religious texts of other cultures, and the great works of art. I remember believing that Columbia students would be incredibly well-rounded because those planning on majoring in chemistry or physics would be forced into taking literature classes. All those whom I believed perceived the world quantitatively, one-sidedly and in terms of numbers would not exist at this school because they would be forced to expand their academic horizons beyond

Who deserves what?

BY JELANI HARVEY We live in a post-racial America where merit and effort are all that matters—or so we are often told. Over the past few weeks, however, we have seen a flurry of student opinions challenging this belief. A few days ago, Andrew Godinich wrote a fascinating article talking about affirmative action (“Skin-deep diversity, April 11). Just two Thursdays ago, CU Habitat for Humanity hosted “Race and the City,” a presentation and discussion about race and homelessness in New York.

A few weeks ago, the Black Students Organization hosted a forum on the penal system and the “New Jim Crow.” Many of these opinions clearly argued that race does matter and that ideals of merit are in dire need of reform.

I used to believe in the doctrine of meritocracy and that all citizens should be able to succeed in post-Jim Crow America.

But after taking a Barnard class called Ethnic Conflict and Unrest with professor Jacqueline Olvera, I began to see that color-blind practices deeply favor whites, who, in our society, have more money and educational status than blacks and Hispanics. Last semester, I wrote a column (“Discuss wealth inequality with honesty,” Sept. 29) in which I mentioned that white Americans have an average wealth of $98,000 compared to $2,000 for blacks. This wealth disparity then means that whites have access to more resources, helping ensure that their children live in better neighborhoods, go to better schools, do well on standardized tests, and ultimately end up at schools like Columbia—a fact which has upset many of my Columbia classmates.

I have been involved in classroom discussions in which white students voice their concerns with reverse discrimination and with how “unqualified” minorities stole someone’s best friend’s spot, though the friend “truly” deserved it. This point is rather absurd, as affirmative action at Columbia does not pick minorities to fill spots, but rather takes race into account in a general sense to reflect that “merit” favors groups who have more resources. Taken literally, meritocracy idealizes a world in which people with the best grades and highest scores deserve higher status than those with lower marks.

What is not surprising, though, is that those with the most merit come from families with the most resources. Well-off Columbia students who disagree should ask themselves what impact wealth had on their services abroad, private tutors, and resource-rich private schools. It had everything to do with their admission, and so, this critique goes out the door.

The mythology of meritocracy also fails when one considers the relationship between wealth and race, especially with blacks. In a previous class called Inequality and Poverty with professor Ashley Timmer, I learned that wealth transfers are the biggest reason children of the wealthy tend to be wealthy themselves. American institutions have for hundreds of years prevented blacks from accumulating capital, and blacks were also not compensated for their years in bondage.

those realms. Thus far that has been exactly what has happened. Everyone here is incredibly well-rounded, incredibly knowledgeable in all subjects—that is, with the exception of the hard sciences.

For a year I have gotten away with not doing any math, and I know many others have. And as I have come to miss the subject, I have also come to recognize how fundamentally important it should be regarded in everyone’s academic life, not just through high school. We study math because it teaches us to think. If those physics and chemistry majors are required to enter the realms of the humanities, should students of the humanities abandon math? Frontiers of Science attempts to introduce quantitative thinking, but my critique against the course is that its math is too basic. It is a course that touches upon a variety of subjects concerning science, but when applied, it uses very basic mathematical principles.

I did get to do some basic calculus in high school, but not everyone here did. What scares me is that those right-sided, humanities-oriented brains who come from such backgrounds can probably get away, like me, with not doing any math at all.

I believe that at the very least, Calculus I and II should be incorporated into the Core, unless the student proves existing mastery of the content. After thinking about my experience, I have come to the conclusion that it is scary that a person could graduate from Columbia knowing about Mannerist art and not about applied mathematics.

Both should be regarded with equal importance.

Mathematics has poetry of its own. The language of numbers is universal, and it will communicate more than any foreign language.

Andrea Viejo a Columbia College first-year. She is on the executive board of the Columbia Society of International Undergraduate Students and a writer for Nuestras Voces. From Outside In runs alternate Mondays.

Every generation of blacks then found themselves starting almost from nothing, while whites never found themselves in these positions. Even ethnic whites, such as the Germans and Irish, who were both discriminated against, never had to deal with this level of oppression. Their children were not hanged nor mutilated for simply demanding enlightened ideals of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” It then seems supercilious to believe that blacks would be able to pull themselves up by their imaginary “bootstraps” in 30 years, overturning more than 300 years of historical silence.

By refusing to see meritocracy for what it is—a system which favors whites—we fail to understand why some people are not eager to change it. It enables exclusion of certain groups while trivializing racial disparities as the fault of minority citizens alone. We all strive to be color-blind, but as students who strive to be intellectually curious and agents of change, we should be alarmed that millions of blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans are being left behind. This, to me, is not meritocracy but bogus democracy, and we should all be outraged.

The author is a Columbia College senior majoring in history.

He is a member of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and a member of the Multicultural Recruitment Committee.

yael wiesenfeld

STAFF EDITORIAL

Open course evaluations C

hoosing classes is currently a shot in the dark. If there are no substantial CULPA reviews, we have few resources available to learn about professors. Yet a sea of information lies just beyond our grasp, in the form of course evaluations.

Currently, course evaluations only factor into undergraduate life when we receive email reminders about them. If course evaluations are made open, as was proposed in the University Senate last week, we will have access to information that has the potential to radically change the way we choose classes.

We do not expect open course evaluations to render CULPA immediately useless, but they can only add to the information that is available to students come course registration.

Certain professors have expressed displeasure at the idea of open course evaluations, and we see merit in some of their arguments. They seem insignificant, however, as open course evaluations are the norm at a number of our peer institutions. It is not unreasonable for our professors to be subject to the same scrutiny that their colleagues face elsewhere. We must consider that the senate proposal— which is backed by most student representatives—does not seek to place undue or unbearable burdens on them. Even

independent of what our peers do, the benefits of the open course evaluations proposal outweigh the costs.

One concern for open course evaluations was of anonymity. In a University Senate hearing last Wednesday, anthropology professor Rosalind Morris said, “If you want to participate in this world as adults … you must be willing to stand by what you say. There really is not transparency without accountability.”

We disagree. Anonymity is crucial to honesty and truthfulness in course evaluations. Students have a legitimate right to be protected by anonymity, as the student-professor relationship is asymmetrical—professors are in a position to assign students’ grades, write recommendations, influence other members of the faculty, and sit on academic committees that directly affect undergraduate life.

Another concern was voiced by School of the Arts professor Bette Gordon, who said, “Open course evaluations could create an atmosphere of pandering, surveillance, that could undermine responsible teaching.”

Open course evaluations will hold professors accountable without being detrimental to “responsible teaching.” This is a concern that might be most relevant to newer, and especially untenured faculty. The senate proposal, however, seeks to address this problem by incorporating grace periods for new professors. More fundamentally, an atmosphere of pandering and surveillance will only exist if professors allow it to. We expect that our faculty will not succumb to such pressures.

Another concern is that the extent of the information

that will be made open to students is still unclear—the senate proposal suggests “responses to selected quantitative questions, and at least one general qualitative question such as ‘Would you recommend this course to your peers, and why?’” We are encouraged that the senate proposal seeks to provide more than numbers. Quantitative statistics alone are overly simplistic and give rise to less nuanced evaluations that provide little useful information. Should this proposal pass through the senate, we hope that the qualitative portion of open course evaluations will exceed what has been required in the senate. Furthermore, we hope that the quantitative portion would include statistical analysis of the numbers—showing outliers, standard deviations, and other useful information. Detailed evaluations will provide thorough, informative reviews that benefit students.

The University has no obligation to provide us with an ordinal ranking of professors by ability. That would be futile.

It is up to the University to release the evaluations as a means of providing us with more information about classes. It is then up to us, the students, to ensure that we use them well. Given the tangible benefits that would result, students should have incentive to devote more time filling out course evaluations.

But students should also be realistic about using them, recognizing the shortcomings of any survey and not relying on course evaluations as the sole resource for choosing classes and professors.

This proposal for open course evaluations has enormous potential, and we applaud the student senators who introduce it.

The Columbia Daily Spectator accepts op-eds on any topic relevant to the Columbia University and Morningside Heights community. Op-eds should be roughly 650 words in length. We require that op-eds be sent exclusively to Spectator and will not consider articles that have already been published elsewhere. Letters to the Editor should be no longer than 350 words and must refer to an article from Spectator or The Eye, or a Spectrum post. Submissions should be sent to opinion@columbiaspectator.com.

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APRIL 16, 2012

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NEWS / SPORTS

Fellowships give profs time to focus on research GUGGENHEIM from front page Mexico and the organization of production and consumption in the United States,” according to the foundation’s website.

“The title of the book is ‘Desire Across Borders,’ and it will use the case of the intersection between U.S.-Mexico migration and HIV to make a broader argument about the multi-level determinants of health inequalities,” Hirsch said in an interview.

“It starts out looking at intimacy and the reasons that Mexican married couples may not want to use condoms when men return home to Mexico after long sojourns in the U.S.” Hirsch has a background in anthropology and population dynamics. She said that for this project, she hopes to use data she has collected over the last 15 years and to revisit Mexico.

“It’s so easy in public health to say people should change their behavior, but if we want to change behavior, we should look at our own consumer behavior,” she said. “Another thing that’s great is that I’m lucky enough to work in a department with colleagues who produce some of the best work in the world from my field (the intersection of social science and public health), so I’m looking forward to getting feedback from them as the work develops.”

Donnelly won a Guggenheim Fellowship for poetry. He plans to use the funds to finish a poetry book tentatively titled “The Problem of Many.”

“As much as I love my job and teaching, it’s difficult to undertake the writing of a book,” he

FILE PHOTO

CHAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW | Literature Humanities chair Christia Mercer will take a leave to pursue research. said. “You just have to blinder yourself to everything but the task at hand.”

Donnelly also won the $100,000 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award earlier this year for his book “The Cloud Corporation.”

He wrote most of the poems for that book on the living room floor of the rented apartment where he lives with his wife and two young daughters, and he said that he’s looking forward to using some of his

fellowship money to rent an artist’s studio in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

“To have been chosen is just unbelievable ... It’s been a very good year for me, but certainly the financial assistances are tremendous and will be life-altering for me,” he said. “You can’t really start a new thing with all of the other stuff you have to do.” jeremy.budd @columbiaspectator.com

Japanese ambassador renews cherry tree gift to city SAKURA from front page the original gift a century ago, six kimono-clad American women attended the ceremony Saturday.

“The original trees lived out their lives, but we’re reminded of the gift every day in the hundreds of cherry trees that flourish in Riverside Park,” John Herrold, president of the Riverside Park Fund, said.

The trees in Sakura Park today—and the six saplings that Hiroki presented on Saturday— are genetic descendents of the original gift. Herrold said the six saplings would be nurtured until they can be planted in Sakura Park.

“We will care for them in the years ahead so they can be enjoyed by millions,” Herrold said.

Most of the cherry trees in the park—those of the Yoshino variety—bloomed a month ago due to this year’s early spring, but several Kwanzan-variety trees at the south end of the park were at their peak Saturday, blooming in brilliant hues of pink. Many attendees said they saw the trees as symbols of friendship, peace, and resilience.

“In the cherry blossom’s shade, there’s no such thing as a stranger,” said Parks

and Recreation Department Commissioner Adrian Benepe, quoting a poem by Japanese poet Kobayashi Issa. “When I look out at you today, I only see friends.”

Lisa Staiano-Coico, president of the City College of New York, said the cherry blossoms reminded her of the “renewal of spring, the great greening of the earth,” and the “resilience of the people of Japan.”

“The cherry blossom represents peace and unity.”

—Inez Dickens, City Council member Others looked to the future. Takashi Kano—the president of the Nippon Club, a New York social club for Japanese Americans—said he hopes that “on the banks of the Hudson, there will still be cherry trees” for hundreds of years.

“We’ll still celebrate the beautiful gift to the U.S. ... and the bond between the people of Japan and America,” he said.

The 2,000 trees presented in 1912 were actually a second attempt at a gift, Kano said—three years earlier, a shipment meant to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage to North America was lost at sea.

“The cherry blossom represents peace and unity. It represents the unity of the culture and two countries,” said City Council member Inez Dickens, who represents Morningside Heights and part of Harlem. “We will take care of these seedlings for generations, so our young people, who are inundated with violence, will understand ... about unity, culture, and beauty.”

Following the ceremony, the 100th anniversary celebration continued across the street from the park at Grant’s Tomb, with a concert featuring Japanese and American artists. The performers included Taiko drummers, winners of the Apollo Theater Stars of Tomorrow talent show, and the Harlem Japanese Gospel Choir.

The concert’s location was no accident—Ulysses S. Grant, who in 1879 became the first U.S. president to visit Japan, provided “valuable advice to our government officials,” Hiroki said. casey.tolan @columbiaspectator.com

Rituals capture mental battle against self CARUSO from back page like having the same flavor of Gatorade.” And clearly, some rituals, like Giel’s Gatorade, make much more sense than others, like Boggs’ temporal exactitude.

Even fans partake in these superstitious acts. Take, for instance, the rally cap.

Needless to say, fans aren’t on the field and can’t effect a victory in any definitive way other than rallying the players and being noisy. But somewhere along the way—many sources point to fans of the 1985 New York Mets—some spectators who were desperate for a sense of control decided that turning their hats inside out would propel their team to victory.

Fans also create other supernatural reasons for why their teams never seem to be good enough. Perhaps best known is the now-defunct Curse of the Bambino for the Red Sox, or the even stupider Curse of the Billy Goat for the whiny Chicago Cubs fans.

Thankfully, according to Giel, the Lions, at least as far as they know, don’t have any type of

curse on them (though fellow columnist Michael Shapiro may disagree).

Superstition is, by its very nature, irrational—there’s nothing more logical about fearing a monster under the bed than there is about thinking that one’s choice of underwear will produce home runs.

And in baseball, sometimes it gets taken to such an extreme that even sports headlines from the Onion, like “Naked Kevin Youkilis Trying To Convince Teammates He’s Attempting Break Out Of A Slump,” start to seem plausible.

Superstition and rituals are not unique to baseball. “I remember earlier this year watching the Steelers-49ers game when the lights went out over in San Francisco, and they were talking about how all the pregame routines were going to be messed up,” Giel noted, also suggesting that baseball players aren’t any more superstitious than anyone else, but that the pace and the amount of down time during the game give people more time to reflect on these things.

So why would someone use such obviously specious

reasoning to justify irrational actions? It all comes down to wanting a sense of control.

The slow pace builds anticipation, and bench players and fans want to feel like they have some say in the end result of the game. Even the players in the game have to do this to a large degree—most players aren’t directly involved in any given event.

Additionally, each player has clear responsibilities, since success in baseball is so clearly defined—they either make the play or they don’t, reach base or are retired. And thanks to batting orders, anticipation builds even higher. Unlike, say, soccer or basketball, where opportunities are constantly formulated and broken down, baseball is one of few sports where players are always aware of their upcoming opportunities, at least on offense.

Maybe routines and superstitions are the only ways to regain an internal sense of control.

Tom Caruso is a Columbia College junior majoring in economics-mathematics. sports@columbiaspectator.com

APRIL 16, 2012

APRIL 16, 2012

SPORTSMONDAY

PAGE 7

MONDAY MORNING

sports briefly women’s golf The Light Blue took second place at the Roar-EE Invitational on Saturday at Spook Rock Golf Course. The team shot 309-297—606 (+30), six strokes behind first-place Harvard. Sophomore Michelle Piyapattra matched her personal best of three-under 69 to take the individual title.

The Lions fired six total birdies, tying for second most in the tournament. Columbia sophomore Jane Dong tied Piyapattra for fifth at three-over 75 after the first rounds on Friday. Dong finished ninth overall at 75-78—153 (+9) and tied with Rutgers freshman Kortnie Maxoutopoulis and Long Island senior Anna Palsson. Senior Lynda Kwon cut her strokes down by 16, marking the best improvement among the Lions at 20-over 164.

—Laura Allen

men’s golf Columbia’s five-man squad finished in third place at the Princeton Invitational, while the team’s three other golfers had solid individual performances at the NYU/Manhattanville Spring Invitational. The Lions’ five-man squad finished only two strokes behind tournament champion Yale, which won with a final score of 858. Senior Brendan Doyle tied for fifth to lead the Lions, while junior Ford Fischer finished in a tie for seventh place. Freshman Brandon Jowers had another impressive performance in the NYU/Manhattanville tournament, finishing in fourth place.

Junior Stephen LaRouere finished in a tie for 15th place, while senior Sam Mysock tied for 30th.

—Josh Shenkar

women’s tennis

CLOSER

3

week

game ball

dario party

divisional difficulties

injury report

Game ball goes to Cornell righty Brian McAfee. The freshman kept Columbia off the scoreboard in eight innings of work, striking out three Lion batters and surrendering just three hits as the Big Red went on to win, 3-0.

Junior left fielder Dario Pizzano helped the Lions to a 5-1 victory in Sunday’s nightcap to end Columbia’s three-game skid.

Pizzano went 2-4 with a home run, two RBIs, and two runs scored.

Following this weekend’s games, Columbia is four games behind division leader Cornell. The Lions’ hopes for a division title took a severe blow when both the Big Red and the Tigers went 3-1 on the weekend.

No significant injuries to report this week.

by the numbers

ivy standings

The Light Blue (12-5, 3-2 Ivy) fell to No. 28 Yale and defeated No. 48 Brown in a weekend of Ivy League competition. Only No. 1 seed junior Nicole Bartnik and No. 2 sophomore Bianca Sanon defeated the Bulldogs in singles play, earning the Lions’ only two points in Saturday’s 5-2 loss. Sanon and her partner, sophomore Tiana Takenaga, brought home the only doubles win with an 8-5 victory over Yale’s No. 75 nationally ranked doubles team at the No. 1 doubles position. Sanon’s victories over the Bulldogs came as no surprise to head coach Ilene Weintraub. “Bianca has made a big improvement and really stepped up as a team leader this season,” Weintraub said. On Sunday, the Lions came out strong against the Bears, sweeping the doubles matches to get out to an early 1-0 lead. The Bears managed to get two points on the board with wins at the No. 3 and No. 5 singles positions before Bartnik defeated Brown junior Misia Krasowski to clinch the 5-2 win for the Lions.

—Caroline Bowman

men’s rowing A week after finishing last behind Penn and Princeton at the Childs Cup regatta, the Lions’ heavyweight varsity eights partially avenged last weekend’s loss, finishing ahead of the Quakers in Saturday’s Blackwell Cup. The Light Blue finished behind Yale and ahead of Penn in a successful day overall for the Lions. The heavyweight freshman eights took second and the varsity fours took first. Columbia’s lightweight squad took second in the Dodge Cup—the varsity eights finished 2.1 seconds shy of an upset of No. 2 Yale. The second varsity eights took second as well. The lightweights’ only first-place finish of the day came in second freshman fours, and the freshman eights finished last behind both Penn and Yale.

—Eli Schultz

Cornell Princeton Columbia

W 10 9 6

L 2 3 6

PCT .833 .750 .500

Penn Dartmouth Brown Harvard Yale

6 8 4 4 2

6 4 8 8 10

.500 .750 .250 .250 .167

ivy schedule

9 1 14

Hits for junior infielder Alex Black this weekend, who has had at least two in each of the Lions’ last four games

Run recorded by the Lions in two low-scoring Saturday losses

Number of hits for the Lions in game two on Sunday, just four fewer than in the previous three games combined

VS. YALE

VS. BROWN

AT HARVARD

AT DARTMOUTH

AT CORNELL

VS. PRINCETON

3/31 1 P.M. W 3-1 3:30 P.M. W 3-0

4/1 12 P.M. L 3-4 2:30 P.M. W 14-6

4/7 12 P.M. L 2-6 2:30 P.M. W 10-1

4/8 12 P.M. W 4-3 2:30 P.M. L 3-11

4/14 12 P.M. L 1-2 (8 INNINGS) 2:30 P.M. L 0-3 4/15 12 P.M. L 4-5 2:30 P.M. W 5-1

4/21 1:30 P.M. 4 P.M. 4/22 1 P.M. 3:30 P.M.

softball The Lions (10-25, 4-8 Ivy) dropped three of four games against Cornell (19-16, 10-2) over the weekend. In the first game on Saturday, the Light Blue took an early 3-1 lead, but the Big Red’s seven-run third inning sealed the game, as Cornell won, 9-7. The Big Red won the nightcap, 9-1, thanks to a fiverun first inning. In the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, sophomore pitcher Tristin Moone hit a three-run home run in the first inning to give the Lions a 3-0 lead. Freshman pitcher Brooke Darling limited the Big Red to just three runs in seven innings, as Columbia dealt Cornell its second Ivy loss with a 7-3 victory. In the final game of the weekend, the Lions took a 3-1 lead, but Cornell mounted a four-run fourth inning to take the game, 5-3.

—Hahn Chang

lacrosse The Lions (2-10, 0-6 Ivy) hung with the Bulldogs (4-8, 1-4 Ivy) but could not get the few extra goals they needed in a 13-9 loss at Yale on Saturday. Columbia trailed by two with 13:26 to go after junior attacker Kacie Johnson scored her fourth goal of the game and assisted on sophomore midfielder Paige Cuscovitch’s third and senior midfielder Taylor Gattinella’s first. The Light Blue was unable to pull out the comback, and the Elis closed out the game with the next two tallies. Attacker Caroline Crow had five goals and two assists to lead Yale.

—Muneeb Alam

Baseball narrowly avoids sweep at Cornell BASEBALL from back page pitching as dominant as Cornell’s on Saturday, sometimes you just have to tip your cap.

“Give credit to Cornell pitchers. They pitched well,” Boretti said. “We battled, but they did a better job than us.”

Pizzano nearly had his on-base streak snapped in Saturday’s nightcap, but reached on a fielder’s choice in the ninth to keep his streak alive.

On Sunday, the Lions were able to break through offensively to some extent. After rain delayed the start of the day’s first game by an hour and a half, a few defensive miscues by Cornell allowed the Light Blue to get on the board early. In the first inning, an error allowed senior Jon Eisen to reach base to lead off the game, and he later scored on Pizzano’s RBI single to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. Columbia stretched that lead to 2-0 in the second, when sophomore Aaron Silbar scored on an Eisen single and a throwing error from the shortstop. It was Eisen’s first hit

of the series, as the Big Red halted his hitting streak at 18 games the day before.

Sophomore David Speer was sharp early in the game, striking out the side in order in the second inning. But Cornell’s bats got to him in the third, as he allowed two home runs, an RBI double, and an RBI single to give the Big Red a 5-2 lead.

Slutsky came on in relief and pitched three clean innings, allowing no runs or hits with two strikeouts, and gave the Lions a chance to climb back into the game. The Light Blue offense chipped away at the lead with junior Nick Ferraresi’s sacrifice fly in the sixth to cut the lead to 5-3, and scored another run in the ninth on junior Eric Williams RBI groundout, but once again, Urbon came on for the save and Cornell took the game, 5-4.

In the weekend’s final contest, the Light Blue’s bats were able to get to the Big Red’s pitching, and the Lions came away with a 5-1 victory. The Lions again opened up scoring early with an RBI single from senior center fielder

Billy Rumpke. After the Big Red tied the game in the bottom of the second, Pizzano launched a two-run home run to put the Lions up, 3-1. The score would stay that way until the seventh, when a Ferraresi RBI double and junior Alex Black’s single gave the Lions a 5-1 lead.

Continuing the trend of strong starting pitching, junior Stefan Olson went six innings in Sunday’s nightcap, allowing six hits, just one run, and fanning seven in six innings.

Freshmen George Thanopoulos and Spinosa pitched three clean innings to seal the Columbia victory.

Even though it was a disappointing weekend, the Lions know that the season is not over and there is still plenty of work to do.

“We need to do a better job in preparing our guys, and try to work on some things to get better this week,” Boretti said.

The Lions will be in action again on Wednesday, for two nonconference games against Manhattan in Riverdale, N.Y.

4/27 12 P.M. 2:30 P.M. VS. PENN 4/28 12 P.M. 2:30 P.M.

scoreboard baseball Columbia Cornell Columbia Cornell Columbia Cornell Columbia Cornell

track and field The Light Blue’s performance at the Patriot Open Invitational was highlighted by the stellar performances that will qualify 11 athletes for the NCAA East Regionals in May. The Lions dominated the distance events on both the men’s and women’s sides. Senior Kyle Merber carried his momentum from the last meet into this one, taking fourth in the 800-meter run, with freshman Brendon Fish and sophomore Harry McFann clocking in right behind him. Other male qualifiers included sophomore John Gregorek, senior Adam Behnke, and junior Mark Feigen in the 1,500-meter run. The women also performed well, with freshman Madeline Rathbun finishing in fourth in the 800-meter run, and junior Erin Gillingham, freshman Anne Carey, and junior Clare Buck placing in the top 10 in the 1,500.

—Melissa Cheung

AT PENN

1 2 0 3 4 5 5 1

softball

STEVEN LAU FOR SPECTATOR

CRAMPING UP | Up 4-1 in the third set of the decisive match, junior Nate Gery began cramping and lost the point for Columbia.

Win streak comes to an end as Light Blue drops pair

BY STEVEN LAU Spectator Staff Writer It was a weekend of heartbreak and disappointment for the men’s tennis team (16-4, 3-2 Ivy).

The No. 37 Light Blue’s 12-game winning streak came to a sudden halt on Saturday afternoon with a 4-3 loss to Yale (13-8, 2-2 Ivy), and the Lions found no consolation on Sunday when they lost 5-2 to No. 64 Brown (16-5, 2-2 Ivy).

“After such a high last week beating Dartmouth and Harvard— and to have won 12 matches—the boys are really devastated,” head coach Bid Goswami said.

After Columbia won the doubles point to begin Saturday’s contest, the Bulldogs responded strongly and fought to tie the team score at three with one singles match remaining.

The day’s results all came down to the No. 3 match between junior Nathaniel Gery and Yale junior Daniel Hoffman.

Hoffman took the first set, 6-4, but Gery battled back for a 7-6 win in the second set, and then, using his momentum, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the final set.

It appeared that the Lions were going to escape with a win, but suddenly Gery began suffering from intense leg cramps.

After losing a game, Gery broke Hoffman’s serve to make it 4-1. But that was the last game the Lions won that day.

Unable to stand at times,

Gery lost five straight games to Hoffman, sealing the Light Blue’s loss. But the Lions’ disappointment was mixed with frustration because of the way the last set ended.

With Gery down 5-4 and serving to stay in the match, the referee gave him two consecutive point penalties for alleged time violations.

“I thought the referee really mismanaged,” Goswami said. “If you’re ready to serve it can’t be a point penalty. It was all confusion in the end, but the bottom line is that we lost the match.”

With the momentum of the last two months squandered, Columbia fell behind quickly on Sunday against Brown, losing all three doubles matches.

Freshmen Winston Lin and Ashok Narayana earned straightsets wins in the No. 1 and No. 4 singles spots, respectively, but the rest of the Lions suffered losses.

“It’s always tougher for us to play outside when we practice indoors,” Goswami said. “We tried our best to get used to the conditions this week at practice, but it’s not the same.”

The head coach also emphasized that the absence of freshman Bert Vancura, who was out with pneumonia, hurt the Lions in the bottom of the singles lineup.

Columbia will end the season next weekend against Princeton and Penn.

Columbia Cornell Columbia Cornell Columbia Cornell Columbia Cornell

7 9 1 9 7 3 3 5

men’s tennis Columbia Yale Columbia Brown

3 4 2 5

women’s tennis Columbia Yale Columbia Brown

2 5 5 2

lacrosse Columbia Yale

9 13

track and field Eleven Lions qualified for NCAA Regionals at the Mason Spring Invitational

lightweight rowing Second at Dodge Cup

heavyweight rowing Second at Blackwell Cup

women’s golf Second of 14 at RoarEE Invitational

men’s golf Third at Princeton Invitational Three competed as individuals at Manhattanville/NYU Spring Invitational

SPORTSMONDAY MONDAY, APRIL 16 • PAGE 8

Superstitions help athletes regain control

Lions drop to 6-6 in Ivies after disappointing weekend

B

ack when I still played baseball, a number of things stood out to me as a little odd. Before games, my team would always take ground balls in TOM the foul territory of CARUSO the infield—stanFor the dard procedure, to be sure—but there Record would always be that kid who would chastise anyone who stepped on the newlychalked foul lines. Naïve as I may have been, I always assumed that this was an issue of politeness and nothing more—if some kid’s dad had made the effort to draw two (sometimes not-so-straight) foul lines, I thought, I owed it to him not to mess them up before the game even started. I later learned, however, that this foul-line avoidance is a very common superstition among baseball players, even among our Columbia baseball players.

Superstitions and rituals are nothing new among baseball players. In my youth, it was Nomar Garciaparra’s constant batting-glove adjustments, bat taps, and helmet and armband touches.

Before that, it was Wade Boggs’ eating chicken, taking batting practice at exactly 5:17, and doing wind sprints at exactly 7:17 before every game. And since Garciaparra and Boggs were both predominantly Red Sox, here’s one for you Yankees fans: Back when Jason Giambi was still on the team, he wore a gold lamé thong when he wanted to get out of a hitting slump, which he apparently also shared with his teammates.

But sometimes it’s hard to separate superstition from routine. Garciaparra, now retired, claimed that there was nothing superstitious about his batting ritual and that it was simply a routine.

“It’s more pregame rituals,” junior pitcher Tim Giel agrees. “I always

SEE CARUSO, page 6

KATE SCARBROUGH / SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

STOPPING THE SKID | Junior righty Stefan Olson picked up a victory in game two of Sunday’s doubleheader, putting an end to the Lions’ four-game Ivy losing streak.

BY MYLES SIMMONS Spectator Senior Staff Writer It was a disappointing weekend for the Light Blue in upstate New York, as the baseball team (14-19, 6-6 Ivy) dropped three of its four games to Cornell (24-8-1, 10-2 Ivy).

The three wins kept the Big Red in first place in the Lou Gehrig division, one game ahead of Princeton (16-13, 9-3 Ivy). The Lions dropped to four games back with just eight left to play.

With Cornell coming into the weekend with just one Ivy loss, the Lions had to be at their best in order to take the series from the Big Red. But after coming away with just one win, the series

certainly did not end the way they hoped it would.

Even with the disappointment of the weekend, the Lions benefited from strong starting pitching in all four games. Cornell came into the weekend leading the league in runs scored (203) and batting average (.307), but the Lions’ pitchers were able to hold the Big Red to just 11 runs in four games.

“Our starting pitching has been good—it’s been good all year,” head coach Brett Boretti said. “It’s definitely our strength. Those guys continue to respond to the opportunities that are at hand.”

Senior Pat Lowery started off the weekend extremely well in game one

on Saturday, going six innings with just two hits and eight strikeouts. He exited the game with the Lions clinging to a 1-0 lead. The Light Blue’s lone run came off of Cornell senior shortstop Marshall Yanzick’s throwing error in the third inning, which scored Columbia junior left fielder Dario Pizzano.

But freshman David Spinosa could not convert the save in the seventh, giving up a run on two hits and two walks to send the game into extra innings. Senior pitcher Harrison Slutsky could not hold off the Big Red attack in the eighth, as a sacrifice fly scored the winning run, and the Lions lost 2-1.

Saturday’s nightcap had a similar result, as the Lions failed to muster any

offense and came away with a 3-0 loss.

Junior righty Tim Giel pitched one of his best games of the season, going eight innings for the complete game, striking out four while allowing three runs on six hits. All three runs came in the first inning on a Big Red RBI groundout, double, and single. But the Lions’ offense was stifled by Cornell righty Brian McAfee, who threw eight stellar innings, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out three. Cornell freshman righty Kellen Urbon came on and worked a successful ninth for his sixth save of the season.

Boretti acknowledged that with

SEE BASEBALL, page 7